This invention relates to telecommunication systems. More particularly, this invention relates to devices which may be connected to existing single line or multi-line telephone systems to announce to a "passive" party the completion of a telephone call hold interval instituted by the "active" party.
Presently, there exist many devices which may be incorporated in or retrofitted to single line or multi-line telephone systems to facilitate the ease of operating the same. Probably the most common such device in the "hold button" which permits the telephone caller to place the party to whom he is talking "on hold," thereby enabling the caller to anwser another line or another telephone without disconnecting the call which is on hold. Unfortunately, it often occurs that the telephone caller (the active party) temporarily forgets that he has placed the other party (the passive party) on hold thereby forcing the passive party to remain on the line for an uncomfortable period of time. After the passive party becomes distraught at having been put on hold for an uncomfortable period of time, the call is terminated before the active party remembers to return to the line. Obviously, in a business environment, such aggravation and loss of business cannot be tolerated.
The most common solution to the above-mentioned problems of placing a party on hold has been to "wink" the line button such that the active party will be continuously reminded that he has placed the passive party on hold. Unfortunately, a preoccupied active party quickly ignores or overlooks the winking of the line button.
Another attempt to overcome the disadvantage of having the hold capability has been to interconnect the telephone system with a source of music such that the passive party hears the music during the call hold interval. Hopefully, the soothing music distracts the passive party such that the passive party forgets how long he has been holding on the line. However, it sometimes occurs that the passive party becomes interested in a particular song or an announcement, only to be interrupted when the active party returns to the line.
Because of the aforementioned disadvantages of a call hold condition, it has been submitted to provide the passive party with a device which permits himself to place the active party on hold and to leave the active party on hold until he has returned to the line. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,506,279 issued to H. C. Rowe. The Rowe device teaches a sound actuated signal device including a housing for supporting the handset of a telephone such that, when the passive party is placed on hold, the passive party places the handset on the device. When the active party returns to the line and speaks into the line, a voice detection circuit contained within the housing senses such voice communication and actuates an indicator light indicating to the passive party that the active party has returned to the line.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,142 issued to Caffine teaches a very similar device which includes the added feature of automatically detecting the call hold condition. Although the Caffine device eliminates the need for manually detecting the call hold condition (placing the handset on the housing), the attendant complexities and the resulting cost of incorporating such an automatic circuit into the circuitry of a multi-line key telephone renders the Caffine device unsuitable for many applications by many owners of key telephone systems. Moreover, the Caffine device is largely unusable in that the great majority of key telephone systems are owned and seviced by public utility corporations which prohibit such devices from being incorporated into their own equipment.
Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the telecommunication art.
Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for enabling a passive party who has been put on hold by an active party to place the active party also on hold and to return to the line immediately when the active party returns to the line.
Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for announcing to the active party that the annunciation signal has been activated and sent to the passive party.
Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for instituting the annunciation signal at each successive instance in which the active party makes a voice communication into his handset enabling the active party to announce to the passive party that the call hold interval, with respect to himself, has existed for an uncomfortably long period of time.
Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for producing a distinctive annunciation signal which is supplied to the active party that alleviates the possibility that the active party will mistakenly believe that the line has gone dead, and therefore terminate the call before the passive party has had an opportunity to return to the line.
Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for generating an annunciation call which would be unaffected by the presence of music on the line during the call hold interval.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner of modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description describing the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjuction with the accompanying drawings.